Parallel tasks are an important tool that I am excited to
put into action in my next teaching block. This week, we talked about it in
relation to math, but it could be done in a variety of different ways, for a
variety of different subjects. As a class, we were given two questions, and
told to choose one and work through it. Both were similar, and dealt with the
same mathematical concepts. I chose to answer this one:
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| Anna Laman. Parallel Tasks. September, 2016 |
I think it was important that we were not told that one was
slightly more advanced than the other, and that they were given the same amount
of validity when we discussed them. We were not separated based on which
question we chose, or told that we should choose one question over another.
Overall, it was a great example of an inclusive classroom strategy.
I believe that as much as I am itching to use this strategy
in my next placement and hopefully my future classroom, it would be difficult
to come up with engaging, interesting sets of parallel tasks. We discussed some
strategies in class, some being to add the names of our students into the
questions when possible, or to keep the wording similar in both questions, and
only simplify the numbers to be more achievable for some students. This book is
full of great examples to work from when the time comes that we have our own
classrooms:
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| Anna Laman. A Book I'd Like. September, 2016 |
After developing a set of parallel tasks, teachers should
come up with a set of scaffolding questions and questions common to both tasks,
and all students to understand where their answers are coming from. In class,
we practiced doing so:
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| Benji Schaefer. Parallel Tasks Chart. September, 2016 |
The common questions were written to apply to both of the
parallel tasks, and could be asked to all of the students participating in
either of the tasks available. They should include questions such as:
-
Did you find more than one answer?
- Where did you begin?
- What strategy did you use?
- How does the answer change if {include a change to the questions listed}?
- What formula could you use to help find the answer to the question?
The scaffolding questions are designed for both questions as
well, and are asked to help guide students through the process of finding the
answer. They include questions such as:
- Would it be easier if there were {remove a section of the question that is making the student confused}?
- Can you use manipulatives to help you find the answer?
- How many times can you {make a direct link to the concepts of the question}?
- They are intended to point students in a direction that they should be going, or getting their process started rather than answering the questions that they have without giving them the opportunity of discovering the process.
As I said, I’m very excited to use parallel tasks in my own
lesson plans, and to hear my own student’s reaction to them. I really liked how
open ended the questions that we worked through as a class were, and believe
that students will be able to benefit from the discussions that they provide.
Hello Anna,
ReplyDeleteGreat post! I have to comment and restate the same that I did on Kathlene's blog post, that the importance of parallel tasks is that is allows students to move away from this idea being "smarter" or "not as smart" apply. Students are able to identify which question they can be comfortable learning and progress when they find the answer. It is also very limited in words, which develops the students critical thinking process because they can become more aware of different ways to get to an answer. I love this task also because it challenges but also gives confidence to students because they have choice in which question they'd prefer solving.
Hi Anna,
ReplyDeleteReally great post! You did a great job with explaining the importance of parallel tasks, that, as Adriana stated above, they allow students to move away from the idea of being "smarter" than one another, and instead encourages them to work harder while at their own individual level. They can feel overall more comfortable with math and gain ownership of their learning as they choose whichever task and numbers they are more comfortable working with. I do agree with you on your point about it being slightly challenging to come up with engaging sets of parallel tasks, and by accessing resources such as the one you posted a picture of above, hopefully it'll make it more manageable!
Overall great post! Kathlene
Hey Anna,
ReplyDeleteYou're right in saying how parallel tasks are a great way to have an inclusive environment. It is often difficult to include all learners in discussion, especially in a math class where students often feel 'dumb'. Parallel tasks allow for all students to participate and allows them to choose which problem they want to try and solve.